Camaraderie
by Enuo
Summary: A hero, who drove away the Mist. His childhood friend, and her terrible plot. And caught in the rapids, three allies from the hero's travels. Will Vahn ever be able to drive his demons away? Not for Mei fans. MeixVahn, noncon. VahnxOC, yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Legaia, or any of its characters. This story is my own work of fiction, and no profit will be made through its creation/distribution.

That being said, enjoy the crappy first chapter that tries to build intrigue and suspense!

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Camaraderie - Chapter One

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"Vahn, I need your help."

It wasn't a question, it was a declaration. And, as Vahn had come to know in all his years dealing with the woman, when she finally garnered enough courage to state something solidly, she was serious and it was generally best to hear her out.

"What's the matter, Mei?" The hero decided that he had some time to spare, and that said time was better spent helping someone than being put to idle waste.

"Well... Normally I'd ask Ixis to help, but he's gone to Ratayu for a few days. You know the beehive near the beach? The bees keep coming near my house and invading my flower garden! I'm afraid that I might get stung someday. So..." She trailed off, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

And our hero bit the hook. "I'll take care of them, Mei. No problem at all. You just head back to your house and go about your day."

Mei was one of Vahn's oldest friends, and they'd known each other since childhood. Through his mother growing sick and dying, through his father's unfortunate accident that left the man crippled, through Mei's father being killed by Seru monsters, the two had seen thick and thin over the years. Many people assumed they would get married someday, have children, and enjoy the now Mist-Free that the cobalt-haired man had helped bring, but the two simply didn't feel that way towards each other.

Mei marrying Ixis would have set a hitch in this plan, at any rate, had Vahn desired Mei's affection. And Vahn, seeing Mei as a sister, would have complicated things had the woman seen him as a potential suitor.

...The fact that Vahn longed for the touch of a male and not a female never really factored into the equation. He had decided early when those feelings first started that he'd keep that little tidbit a secret until he found someone he wished to share his life with.

The woman tilted her head, and her brow furled slightly. "...Vahn? Would you like to come over when you're finished? I want to treat you to a reward for helping with the bees." He blinked, and responded with a casual "Sure, that sounds good. It won't be very long."

"Oh, and, would you be able to get me some honey when you're done?" She smiled coyly, and Vahn knew he couldn't say no to her additional request, so he smiled and nodded his head.

And with that, he started off at a relaxed amble towards the hollowed tree that housed the bees of Rim Elm. As he approached, the low hum being emitted from within the tree grew louder, and by the time he was within an arm's length the Queen Bee herself had emerged with an entourage of several workers.

Vahn unconsciously rubbed his right forearm as he assumed a battle stance. His time being bonded with Meta had vastly improved his physical abilities, and a large portion of that gained strength was still with him even after his Ra-Seru had left. All the same, he missed the Seru, as Meta had grown to be a close friend during their time together.

One of the worker bees launched into an attack, a quick tackle, which Vanh sidestepped before beginning his assault. Leading with his left hand, he jabbed the insect in the thorax. Then, following quickly with his dominant hand, he threw another punch to catch and break one of the creature's legs. A high kick aimed at the abdomen lead into a short combo of punches, each one meeting the hard shell of the bug with a satisfying crack, and he finished his adversary off with a powerful chop to the neck, which disassociated the monsters' head from its body with astonishing ease.

Seeing how quickly the human had made short work of their comrade, the remaining 2 workers quickly turned from their threat and flew away. The Queen, however, seemed to hold no such cowardly notions, and in the scant pause after the end of his attack, Vahn was quickly tackled by the insect matriarch and stung deeply in his arm. The queen's stinger, having no barbs, was less like an insect sting and more like the stab of a poisoned dagger, and he instantly felt the wound begin to grow hot and irritated at the presence of the toxin in his body. True to form, though, our protagonist clenched his teeth tightly and didn't utter a single sound at the pain.

He struck a defensive pose, focussing his energy and preparing to defend against another vicious attack. The Queen Bee buzzed louder, and flew at the Rim Elm native with all the force she could muster, stinger not even bared- a full body, kamikaze-style tackle.

Vahn moved lower to the ground and braced himself, arms drawn together in front of his chest and legs bent. When the bug connected with him, the shock was mostly absorbed and he barely moved. As his heart pumped, though, he felt the burn in his arm spread and winced at the creeping pain.

For the next few moments, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Vahn kicked off the ground, bringing his leg up to connect with the bug's chin. Its head snapped up, which was a perfect opportunity for the fighter to do a forward flip and bring his foot down sharply across the insect's head, causing the beast to crash to the ground. Continuing his assault, three upward kicks knocked the bug back into the air like a grotesque parody of a hackie-sack, and bending his legs build up force for his next maneuver, he did three back flips, each one with a leg outstretched, knifing the Queen Bee first at bottom of the head, then at the junction of head and thorax, and lastly at the joint of thorax and abdomen. When the brawler finished his attack, he looked upon the fallen body of his adversary, separated into three different pieces, just as it began to fade away. Smiling a little, the only thing to bring down his happiness at having beaten the bees was the burning ache spreading throughout his left arm. Reaching into his item pouch, he withdrew an Antidote, and downed the liquid in one gulp. He sighed just moments later, as he felt the burning neutralize. Then, he grabbed a Healing Leaf and crunched it in his fist over the wound, letting the medicinal juices fall into the gash and and aid in knitting the tissues back together.

Vahn then reached into the now-vacant beehive, wrapped his hand around a cluster of honeycombs, and pulled them loose. Some of the waxy chambers broke, and a small amount of the golden liquid inside spilled onto his forearm. Our hero didn't notice when the minor itch accompanying the use of a Healing Leaf dissipated; he was already dashing towards Mei's house.

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Why is Ixis in Ratayu, of all places? What will Mei's reward for Vahn be? Why did the itch stop when the honey landed on Vahn's skin? These questions (and more!) will be answered in the next installment! Feel free to review, constructive criticism is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Legaia, or any of its characters. This story is my own work of fiction, and no profit will be made through its creation/distribution.

That being said... On with the show!

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Camaraderie - Chapter Two

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Vahn arrived at Mei's house very shortly after leaving the tree with his hair slightly disheveled, an awkward hole punctured in his arm, and a large cluster of honeycombs clenched in his hand. He knocked the wooden door with the back of his knuckles and when Mei answered and took in his appearance, her eyebrows took up residence in her bangs. She then squealed "VAHN, YOUR ARM!".

Our hero blinked twice, looked down at his wound, and noted that it had already approximated. He shrugged nonchalantly, and looked her in the eyes. "It's nothing, Mei. I've seen much, much worse. Besides, I've already used a Healing Leaf, so don't worry."

She seemed to accept this answer, and her eyes flicked to the dripping golden mass in his hand. "You got the honey! Thank you so much!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest in typical Mei-fashion, and smiled brightly while dipping her head in thanks.

"Yeah, I got your honey." Vahn stuck out his tongue a little, and both people chuckled mildly before the blue-haired one stopped, his nose wrinkling slightly. "Mei... Do you smell that? It smells kind of like rotting fruit." She looked down for a second, and nodded. "That smell... Would be my flower garden. I got some very pretty seeds from a traveller in Drake Castle, and I thought that the plants would be equally as pretty. They look very nice, but they don't smell very pleasant. Would you like to see them?" Vahn nodded, and they both stepped off of the small doormat-stone to walk around to the side of the house.

The plants were, in fact, quite lovely. Undulating, leafless, thornless stems grew for several inches, perfectly straight up, and each stalk culminated in what looked like a large emerald ball with a very pronounced red double-ring around the bulb laterally. Vahn walked closer towards the flowers, but as he was downwind, he decided that he had seen enough. Turning back to Mei, the woman smiled, and then they proceeded to walk into the house.

Vahn, having turned around and left the plants, didn't notice when a butterfly flew over one of the flora. The bulb turned ever so slightly, and suddenly the butterfly's wings were branded with a red kiss-mark. It then dropped out of midair, and the bulb opened wide. As the insect fell inside the plant's hollow head, the two hemispheres closed around the bug and the plant resumed its prior relaxed state.

Inside the house, the young man situated himself at the small table, while Mei ruffled his hair and snatched the honeycomb cluster from his hands greedily. She donned an apron, and got a look of fierce determination in her eyes. Then, she started to dash around the kitchen gathering ingredients at breakneck speeds, extracted some eggs and milk from the ice box, lit the small fire inside the clay stove, and set about mixing a very sweet-smelling batter in an aged wooden bowl. Vahn didn't know what his friend was making, but it was very pleasing to his nose, so he decided to just let her set about her activity.

Halfway through beating the batter, Mei placed a paring knife on the now-hot element of the stove. Just a minute later, Vahn watched as she took the warmed knife, fetched the hexagonal clusters, moved over the mixing bowl, and with one smooth motion sliced a thin sheet of wax from the top of the honeycombs. She then flipped the waxy mass over, and did the same thing to the other side, which released the pent-up treasure into the pastry bowl.

She had performed this in the blink of an eye, with unnerving accuracy, and had not spilled a single drop of the liquid outside of her cooking bowl. One of Vahn's eyebrows quirked, and he noted that he probably wasn't even as accurate with a blade as she was. Years of doing domestic duties, it seemed, had granted Mei a level of flourish that was hard-pressed to come with battle-hardened reflexes. He admitted to himself silently that there certainly was more to his friend than met the eye.

Mei then snatched a small hexagonal-prism made of wood, rounded at the edges, and proceeded to push into each separate honey chamber. The stick fit perfectly into each recess, and by the end of her meticulous treatment, the comb was completely devoid of honey. Mei handed the cluster to Vahn, and he set it in the garbage, impressed by her attention to detail.

For the briefest of moments, while Mei added the finishing ingredients to the mix, Vahn thought he could smell over-ripe fruit again. However, this thought was dismissed as the scent disappeared in a powerful, pleasant smelling cinnamon cloud that rolled through the kitched as Mei liberally dusted the batter with the spice.

The young woman then folded said batter into a small cake pan, applied another small dusting of cinnamon to the liquid-confection, and placed the pan into the oven. Finally, she broke the silence that neither had really realized had settled inside the house. "It's Elm cake. Nobody bothers the bees because they're dangerous, and the closest place to here with a honey market is Jeremi, so it's not a common dessert. Nene told me that you've never had it before, since the last time you fought the bees, you ate the honey immediately afterwards. So... I thought I'd make you something special." Vahn remembered that battle, and grinned.

It was a long fight, near the start of his journey to free the world from the mist, and he, Noa, and Gala had used up every healing item they had to take down the insects. Overjoyed when the bees were finally defeated, the three heroes checked the tree and were delighted to see the sheets of waxy cells. Vahn had honey very rarely, he assumed Gala didn't get many treats at the serious Biron monastery, and Noa had confirmed that she had never tasted the sugary food before at all. So, the three heroes stood in front of the fallen bees' hive and indulged themselves like idiots, still bleeding from various wounds, clothes torn and ragged, standing in a small crater dug-out by the various Arts usages.

Coming out of his reverie, Vahn smelled the air and beamed at the fact that something that was so pleasantly scented was being made for him. Mei was much a sister to him as Nene, and he was flattered that she was going through all this trouble to make him a special treat.

And judging from her face-splitting smile, Mei was equally as happy at the way the day was shaping up. The two chatted amicably for quite some time while waiting for the cake to finish baking. Suddenly, a particularly strong whiff of cinnamon wafted past them, and Mei declared "I think it's almost done. That smelled a lot sweeter than it did before. Not too much longer, Vahn, and it should be finished."

Little did Vahn know, cinnamon was not an ingredient used in Elm Cake.

Mei walked to the oven, opened the door, and stuck a skewer inside the center of the cake. When it came out clean, she deemed that the cake was indeed finished. Setting the skewer to the side, she extinguished the small oven-fire, donned some oven mitts, and snatched the cake from the warm confines of the stove.

Vahn's stomach growled- he wasn't very hungry, but the cake smelled amazing. When Mei flipped the pan over, retrieved some icing from within the ice box, and applied it liberally to the pastry he found himself drooling. Shaking his head at how silly he was being, one of Gala's lectures on the responsibilities of a warrior came to mind. This caused him to snicker, and Mei turned around and inquired what he was laughing at. His response was "Just thinking about a comedy routine I saw once."

Then, the cake was portioned up, and a slice was laid in front of our blue-haired hero alongside a tall glass of milk. He thanked Mei, and was about to eat the entire slice in one bite, but Nene's words came to mind. 

"It's never polite to eat a meal someone made for you all at once." she claimed. "It makes the chef think that they didn't do a good job, and you want to get rid of their food all at once so you won't have to put up with the taste for long."

Mei saw him pause, seemed to sense his reservation, and laughed. "Vahn, if you're hungry, you can eat as quickly as you want. There's plenty of cake left, you can savour it later."

This was all the encouragement he needed. Spearing the moderate portion of dessert with his fork, it was promptly jammed into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and washed down with cold milk at a superhuman speed. The cake was, indeed, quite delicious, but it wasn't very filling. Mei waved at him with the back of her hands. "Go, get more. There's still a lot left, so enjoy it when you're not starving anymore. I just wish I'd made something a bit heavier to go with it."

So, Vahn helped himself to the cake again, and ate a little slower this time. His hunger wasn't sated, but it was abated slightly. Twice more, he went back, and each time he grew slightly more full, but only slightly. If Vahn hadn't been so preoccupied, he might have taken note of the fact that Mei had not been eating her cake, just the icing.

Suddenly, with only 1 slice of cake left for the taking, Vahn felt thoroughly sated, and sat back heavily in his chair. It was as though he had eaten an entire Ostrich, and the sudden weight in his stomach sat awkwardly and made him nauseous. Mei looked at him with concern. "Vahn, if you're not feeling well, would you like to lie down? You... Really don't look too good." He thought she was right, and she moved to his side to help him over to her bed. When they reached the soft mattress, he laid down instantly as his vision started to dance. A sweet smell perfumed the sheets, and part of him was suddenly glad he liked boys- such strong, cloying smells hurt his nose and gave him headaches. He was going to ask Mei to open a window, but found that his mouth wouldn't move.

In fact, none of his muscles, except those of his chest and eyes, would move. And it was then that Vahn began to panic. His eyes darted around the room, and came to rest on Mei, standing beside the bed, smiling serenely, hands clasped in front of her chest earnestly, with a strange glint in her eyes.

"Vahn, what's wrong?"

He tried to speak, but couldn't make the air pass over his vocal chords. He couldn't make his lips move. He couldn't even move his tongue. The only thing that happened when he tried to speak was that air blew out of his nose frenziedly, and other than the airy sound nothing could be heard.

"Can't speak, hm? I'd say give it another minute or two, and you'll be okay." The woman unclasped her hands, and let them fall to her sides for a moment. It was then that Vahn realized how dark it was in the house, even with the curtains pulled wide open. It must have been after sunset, at the very least. How long had they been in the small house, waiting for that cake to bake? Where had all the daylight gone?!

"You're looking a little upset there, Vahn... Allow me to explain some things, maybe I can help alleviate some of your worries." She smiled a saccharine smile, and sat down next to him on the bed, and spoke while removing her socks. "First of all... Thank you very much for getting rid of those bees for me. They keep terrorizing my poor plants. There's something addictive in their nectar, I guess. The bees go silly for it, and stand beside my babies, sipping slowly for hours. It's not good for my poor beauties' health."

She then took off her apron, and walked around her small hut, drawing all the curtains closed. "Maybe the bees just sit there because they can't move very well. All I can say for sure is that suddenly, they seem to each their end, and leave to head back to their hive. They don't even fly, they crawl. Too full to even fly, I guess. Isn't that the funniest thing you've ever heard of?" She laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes, and Vahn flinched inwardly. Why was Mei being so weird all of a sudden?

"Well... No matter. My precious plants produce a lot of nectar, and you kept the bees occupied long enough today for me to get some for myself." It was then that Mei's hands drifted to the small zipper on the back of her dress, and Vahn's internal alarms started to screech at him to run. His heart started to pump faster, his pupils dilated, his breathing quickened, and when he tried to flex his muscles to jump out of the bed and run to safety-

Nothing happened. And Mei just kept smiling.

"I'm... fairly certain you won't be going anywhere anytime soon. You had 4 slices of cake, and that's a lot of nectar. You'll be here for a long time, Vahn-dear." She tugged the zipper down her back with deliberate slowness, and then shrugged her upper body out of the dress before sitting down next to Vahn again. She disturbed the sheets, and another sickening cloud of perfume shrouded his head, burning his nose, upsetting his stomach further. Then, when Mei reached over, and ran a hand down his cheek, he realized the feeling was very subdued. When her hand drifted across his lips, he had a vague inclination of what she wanted to do.

He tried once more, screaming at his body to listen to the orders he was giving it, but his body simply wouldn't respond. He called out to the part of his mind formerly occupied by Meta, but Meta was not there. He was completely defenseless, and part of his mind recognized this strange feeling. He shivered from head to toe.

_"Stun..."_

"Those flowers outside aren't the monsters that you've come across on your travels, but they will be someday." The blue-haired captive's eyes widened in horror and he tried to speak once more, but it was a failed effort lost to the twilight house. "Yes, Vahn, that's right." Mei smiled cruelly. "Lippians."

At the twisted sense of pride in her voice, the nausea in Vahn's stomach increased ten-fold, but he couldn't even vomit due to the paralysis wracking his body.

"The Kiss of Death that they perform... Is kind of brutish. They just want to kiss someone, but leap into it a little too quickly. So, sometimes their nectar takes effect, and you get stunned. And sometimes they just bowl you over. That's what Ixis told me, once. I purchased these seeds from a travelling merchant at the Drake Harvest fair. My my, Ixis looked kind of shocked when he found the seed pouch. I claimed that I thought the seeds looked like tiny jewels, so I got them to make a necklace. He trusted me, and... Well, everyone has to sleep sometime!" Once again, she laughed a cold laugh, but this one was 2 octaves higher and 3 shades colder.

Vahn's stomach lurched again, and his chest constricted.

"It seems awfully cliche, you know, that I'd tell the complete details of my plans... But I figure that since I've already won, I can gloat a tiny bit. It's not like I can be stopped now, anyways." With that, Mei stood up and slipped out of her dress entirely, leaving her in just a bra and panties.

"But anyways... I've just wanted you for so long, Vahn. It's been years since I first became a woman, and every day since then, you've been on my mind. I need you so bad." She reached over, and unbuttoned his vest. Vahn was on the verge of tears now, and his eyes had the look of a caged animal staring death itself in the face.

"The Lippian nectar you had... Is much more concentrated than the lip secretion of the adults. But my only problem was getting you to ingest it, since it smells so terrible and tastes almost as bad. But the bees played to my advantage, and the honey was sufficient enough to counter the bitter taste. And the smell... Well, let's just say that I overdid the cinnamon a tad." She pulled his vest open, and then set to work on his belt. The hero's tears finally began to fall, sliding down his face and soaking the pillow supporting his head.

"_Mei, please don't do this, please don't, please please please please..."_, the hero chanted this litany in his head, hoping for a miracle.

"But you were none the wiser, the syrup is in your body now... And I'll finally get what I want. I've wanted this for a long time, Vahn. And... Well, you haven't. Hell, for a while there, I even thought you might be queer! Imagine that, the hero of Legaia, a fairy. What a silly thought!" Mei laughed maniacally, and it was evident that madness had claimed this girl that Vahn once viewed as a part of his family. The laugh ended abruptly, and she pulled the belt loose, then undid his pants.

Suddenly, Vahn didn't feel very much like a hero at all.

"Every girl wants a hero, Vahn. No matter how independent she is, every woman in the world wants a knight in shining armor to ride in and save her from all her troubles. To give her a sense of satisfaction and security. But, alas, it seems my story is different. It seems to me that I'll have to ride my knight in shining armor to get my sense of satisfaction. After all, you're hardly able to move right now." She tugged his pants and underpants off in one quick motion, and Vahn clenched his eyes tightly, wishing that the reaper would simply took him where he lay. He would do anything to escape this nightmare. The sound of a clasp being undone and a small piece of material hitting the floor seemed much louder than they should have.

(( means no graphic details, so look elsewhere for this. :P ))

The stress of the situation was too much to bear, and his thoughts began to blur together into one giant smear that lasted for hours. He couldn't feel her hands, her mouth, her womanhood. He was aware of what she was doing when he felt the pressure on his body, and heard the bedsprings creak, but he was able to block most of it out thanks to the numbing effect of the sap.

Even though he wasn't attracted to women, if one spent enough time paying attention his manhood, there was no way the body's natural reaction to ministrations could be completely stopped.

The only thing to pierce his shocked stupor was when she started to sing to the empty house as she impaled herself on his length and began to ride.

"Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods?," Vahn wondered, himself, where all the gods were at this point in time.

"Where's the street-wise Hercules, to fight the rising odds" punctuated by the creaking of bedsprings and Vahn trying to force his muscles to obey, to let him escape this horror, to use a Door of Wind, even to injure Mei. To let him do anything to stop what he knew she was never going to let end until she had reached her limit.

"Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need." Vahn could feel the bile in his stomach begin to churn, and rise up into his esophagus slightly. Whether it was the paralysis wearing off, or simply his stomach trying to expel its contents so violently that it was bypassing his muscle-lock, he had no idea. But the terrible burning in his throat gave him something to focus on, something to take away some of what the woman atop him was doing.

"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night" she gasped, and began to lengthen her strides, and Vahn wished with all his being that the acid burning in his throat would swallow him up entirely to burn this taint away.

"He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight" And it seemed Vahn's prayer was answered, as he could feel his stomach somersault and force more of that precious burning liquid up into his throat. He could vaguely taste the vomit on his breath, and he hoped it would deter Mei.

"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light", this was punctuated by a small series of gasps, and Vahn was glad that he couldn't feel this, didn't want to feel this, but more than anything couldn't feel this.

"He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life... Larger than LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!" Mei squealed, and no matter how much relief the terrible clawing, rending, acidic burn in his throat could give, no matter how wide the expanse of his mind-numbing shock, it would never be enough to drive away the sound of Mei reaching her climax off of his own body. It would never drive away the scent of her, sweating and hot, amidst the saccharine, cloying scent of her perfumed sheets, and the mild underlay of cinnamon in the room from that cake from earlier.

And as Mei re-composed herself, smoothed her hair down, re-dressed Vahn half-assedly, and dragged him back to his house (He no longer lived with Val and Nene, he had his own place), his mind curled in on itsself. As she tucked him into his own bed, he could feel himself retreating from the world. As she took the last piece of Cinnamon/Lippian Elm cake and laid it on his table beside a card that read "A little reminder of our night together", he could feel the betrayal building a shell around his heart. And as she left his house and he could hear a Door of Wind being used, only then did his mind process all that had happened to him that night. And as he lay in his bed, hours later, retching blood and partially digested cake, he realized that he would never be the same.

As the smell of cinnamon drifted through the room, Vahn stared out his window at the moon hanging high in the sky, and admitted to himself:

There certainly was more to Mei than met the eye.

Then, the darkness that had evaded him so vehemently earlier rose up and claimed him, as he fell into a fitful sleep.

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A few kilometers away, at Biron monastery, Gala trained late into the night, to distract himself from a strange ominous feeling that had grasped him earlier in the night.

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A few miles from there, in Octam, Noa rocked baby Cort back to sleep after the infant had awoken with a start at the same time she had, just a few minutes prior.

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And on the other side of the world, in at the top of Sol Tower, Enuo sat up in bed drenched in cold sweat, eyes wild, with a terrible sense that something was very, VERY wrong in the world at that moment.

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Where did Mei go? Is Vahn going to be okay? And will the injustice go unpunished? These questions (and more!) will be answered in the next installment! Feel free to review, constructive criticism is welcome.


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